diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index 25ab990a4b..c98b9571ef 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -74,17 +74,20 @@ testCompareStatusXMLToXMLFiles(const void *opaque)
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ACTUAL_NET |
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_PCI_ORIG_STATES |
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_SKIP_VALIDATE |
-                                      VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ALLOW_POST_PARSE_FAIL)))
+                                      VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ALLOW_POST_PARSE_FAIL))) {
+        VIR_TEST_DEBUG("\nfailed to parse '%s'\n", data->inName);
         goto cleanup;
+    }
 
     if (!(actual = virDomainObjFormat(driver.xmlopt, obj, NULL,
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_SECURE |
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_STATUS |
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_ACTUAL_NET |
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_PCI_ORIG_STATES |
-                                      VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_CLOCK_ADJUST)))
-
+                                      VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FORMAT_CLOCK_ADJUST))) {
+        VIR_TEST_DEBUG("\nfailed to format back '%s'\n", data->inName);
         goto cleanup;
+    }
 
     if (virTestCompareToFile(actual, data->outActiveName) < 0)
         goto cleanup;